Paynter Jacket of Theseus

Thanks to WandaVision, many more people have an idea what the Ship of Theseus is, and it's the best way I have of describing my version of the Paynter Jacket. How many changes can I make and still call it a Paynter?

I bought the pattern out of curiosity, I have been following the company and it's production/marketing strategy. 

https://erniekdesigns.blogspot.com/2024/09/good-morning-paynter-field-jacket-link.html

I bought the pattern in September of last year. At the same time, I need a work jacket. that is something to hold my radio and my phone and some pens and a b7 notepad....and look like I belong where I am.

I looked at a lot of jackets and Chanel jackets and chef coats and the shackets that the caterers wear at the hall where I work..... and then looked at the Paynter that I was toiling to write a totally different piece about the Paynter Company and...Reader, I Made One.

This took forever, but that is thanks to a lot of days coming home from work and thinking "I don't need a jacket for a job I'm not going to have". I have a lot of "Don't Get Comfortable" vibes in my office, so my motivation to finish, much less begin, has been very very low.

I am always sewing. I have hemmed a billion t-shirts.

And I made my sister a new vest from a pattern I drafted awhile ago.

The other part has been what we used to call frankenpatterning. You start with one pattern and a set of pieces and after while a couple other patterns have grafted themselves onto the project to the point where can you really call it a Paynter jacket?  (thus the title of this post) To be fair, I did not alter the basic fit that much, except for the usual making it four inches shorter. And I was pleased with the fit on me. I've made a lot of other work jackets that really did not fit me the way they should, so if this venture does nothing, it reminds me to begin again if the process is getting further into the weeds by overfitting.

And I really changed up the program after the toile.

I did play with the bellows pocket. I played with the paper model (aka the pattern piece) and sewed it up and played with that as well.  I worked on the Kelly anorak and that bellows pocket has a little offset stitching sauce that makes it easier to stitch. 

I have complicated thoughts about how to improve this pocket and its attachment to the jacket, but I also really don't like bellows pockets on me (I am wide enough) and I guess I don't love a teaching opportunity enough now. Some other time.

Even so, goofing around with that took a month or so. This post is going to run on, so you might want to take a break too. Make a little batch of cilantro sauce.

My next thought was to try out an on-seam pocket in the front. I created a midline seam, and inserted a side-entry pocket bag into it. 

Not  because I wanted the seam (it would be useful for FBA and SBA work, but I'm just a barrel shape now) as I wanted the unintended interior pocket this flap would create.

Chalk marked the seam line for stitching

You can see the lining side. I added binding to the top seam of the pocket bag. The far side of the bag will be caught in the stitching of the front facing, the bottom in the hem facing. It makes in interior pocket that will hold a radio or a phone in the other one.

Unfolded, this is the left interior.

I think it was the Helly Hansen rainslicker I discovered this on. I look for them in outerwear all the time. The Bathing Clown jacket from Sleepy Peach notes this as  a feature.

I use my Uniqlo down cardigan a lot at work, sticking that radio in the interior 'pocket' and running the earpiece up through the neck. As much as I love those Uniqlo pieces for their utilitarian navy and black looks, they are lightweight pieces, made well enough, but they are not work wear.

A toile was made. Sewed it, marked adjustments. Added a back yoke to get a little reinforcement, a place for some lining to make putting it on a little slippier, and a tad more fabric in the back to cover my big beautiful butt.

Yes, I burrrito'd the yoke. It works; it's worth the effort. It is a very lot of fabric to roll up in a yoke, and if this were made of heavier fabric, it would not work. I'd still add a yoke shaped lining piece.

Progress. More time passes.

After I attached one part of the jacket with the 'wrong' side out, I remembered to put the pin on the outside face. (shakes head. Every Dang Time)

two piece sleeve fits really well, 

Eh, we're going the right way

Pant legs getting really wonky below the knee though.

Adding homemade bias from lining bits to finish the armscye. it does make the thing easier to put on. I may add it to the Bathing Clown jacket; I still have more of the matching lining

Sewing black fabric in a dark room needs extra light.

It was a straightforward make, two piece sleeve fit well, markings are good. There are a lot of nice details I left off (waist tabs not necessary), interior patch pockets with stitching that is covered by largeThe front placket instructions are hard to follow as written. The short version: make a paper model first. You make the placket and the buttonholes, you sew the placket at the hem and then fold it up and stitch it over the cover placket. This makes a significant lump at the hem, which you fold over and stitch through again - a total of seven layers. Yes, I had to count that several times. The Paynter Company must use some impressive machines to construct these jackets if they use anything resembling chore coat duck. My workaround was using the selvage edge of the fabric on the interior placket edges so I would not have to fold them under. There are no good photos of very black fabric being sewn to other very black fabric.

The struggle for me was recalculating that placket piece with my very much shorter jacket. You finish it, sew it at the bottom and fold it up to stitch it to the underside of the front edge facing. I finally ignored the buttonhole markings, chose my own, and went for it. I did enjoy better results because of the disembodied placket to stitch them on. Also no useful photos.

Okay, you can see the selvedge use on the inside of the placket, but you can't see the buttonhole I redid about four hundred times. It's there.

I have worn the jacket to work and still have a job. They are not related activities, however.

And now I need to fix the pants pattern. So I am making a second Paynter.

Not the same black. This one has speckles.

Aftermarket Alterations in my 60s

Even the backpack needs alterations

My sewing journey began with making my doll's clothes with remnants from the table at Pacific Iron as a 7 year old. My first work on human clothes was hemming pants. I am 5'2" and all pants are too long.

I did some garment sewing in elementary and middle school (I sewed my first pants suit for 5th grade when they let us wear pants to school, I made a couple A-line dresses: all of this from double knit polyester)

There has been more, but in-between all those projects has been a lot of altering. Letting it out, taking it in, making it longer, so much making it shorter.

Lately I have been rehemming all my tshirts so they can either hang out and look acceptable to me, or tuck in and not have an extra roll around my extra roll.

Oh, and I have gotten bigger, for emotional and old lady issues.

The sewing activities that fascinate me now are remodels. I enjoy going back into old work and finding ways to make it more wearable. Hemming the tshirts has been one activity, moving tags from the itchy places is another. Replacing zippers in coats (why was I installing 28 inch zippers when a 24 was reachable for my stubby little arms?). I still put pockets into things that didn't start out with pockets, but I have redone pockets in items to reflect the knowledge I have now about how to hang a pocket, or to totally change out an altered pocket that hasn't aged well.

Stitching down loose facing in shirt that has made it not as easy to grab and wear.  There's been a lot of this in my closet, so much I haven't bothered to photograph it. The shirt will still need a press, but it won't need a hour of pressing.

All of these take a lot more time and unpicking than they used to. Sometimes it's helpful that I saved fabric leftovers so that I can use new pieces rather than trying to find extra fabric in the garment itself. One of my projects for last summer was going to be making the wooden ruler sundress fit me again. I do have extra pieces, all cut into a long role of bias tape. I just lost heart.

I have not tossed it out though.

Hats by Bill Cunningham up for auction

 

Right now, hats made by Bill Cunningham are up for auction. I found out from the NYT article

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/style/bill-cunningham-william-j-hats.html

which is full of some great tidbits and photos of the purchasers (and behind a paywall, apologies)

The photos of the hats themselves are on the auction website. More than just these four.

https://hindmanauctions.com/auctions/6324-spring-fashion-and-accessories?page=1&per=48&tab=lots#lot_8

Mending and Repairs, Family, Work and Sewing (why can't I use pins and thread to fix them?)

 

This year is throwing the entire trash can of trouble at me. I am not fond of sharing my personal life on this sewing blog, but it's rocky. Work has sucked a lot of my attention, it's not going well, and I have counted on work to distract me from my personal life. There is a high likelihood I will lose my job, or that my job will disappear. 

No, sewing is not a job. Not one that I can make enough money at.

(redacted gripe about how the standard response to something I've made is: you could sell that. No. Stop it. Not everything can or should be monetized)

Meanwhile, I made mittens. And then remade them because they were not warm enough. More often than not, when I sew a thing to fill a need, the act of creation eliminates the need. I'm sick of icy streets and sidewalks; make new mittens.

Voila! Winter, begone!

I know I made a mitten pattern or two, but I know I did not like the results so started over from available materials and first principles.  I have a fleece glove that fits just perfectly.

So I traced it off.

I have a lot of  fleece chunks and scrap from a project I did for SewBaby back last century (at least I haven't had to move so haven't had to ditch the useful stash).

I ended up handsewing them while I watched Svengoolie. It's a quick sew, it's repetitive in a soothing way, I could keep an even and very small seam allowance.

A little tailoring to fit

I wore them outside and rapidly realized they would need some lining to keep the wind out. 

Found some Spoonflower lycra scrap and put it on the interior non-thumb side.

Trusty hand model led to silly video at the start of this post.

In the same vein, I repaired the welts on my Orange "I am my own traffic cone" parka. 
I did not do as tidy or invisible a job, because I apparently alternate between doing a good job and an adequate one.

I am working on a pair of jeans, in moleskin, that I realized will need lining. This realization came pretty far into the process, so we're going to end up with a 'lining your jeans' focused post. Meanwhile, I am going to spend today working on the duties spreadsheet my boss has requested for our meeting tomorrow. 

Don't get comfortable.

PS: a new to me fix for a broken jacket zipper bottom tab on this video link (will start at the fix I am referencing). Low temp hot glue stick and a plastic straw!

https://youtu.be/xox768Pcwtg?si=MndJm4pxB4qPEBH3&t=45